AFP
INDIAN WELLS, March 21
World number two Roger Federer ousted pesky ninth-seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-0 to book his spot in the semifinals of the Indian Wells ATP Masters on Friday.
Federer, who has a 15-1 record this season on the ATP Tour, remains on course for an unprecedented fifth Indian Wells title after winning previously here in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2012.
He moves through to face Canada’s Milos Raonic, who upset third seed Rafael Nadal in the other men’s quarterfinal on Friday. “I found it quickly today. I felt like I was hitting the ball and playing the right way and when those two things happen it is always going to be tough for him,” said Federer who has now lost just 22 games in four matches.
Fededer is now 13-6 lifetime against Berdych, although the Czech has given Federer all kinds of trouble on some of the game’s biggest stages -- in the 2004 Athens Olympics, 2010 Wimbledon and 2012 US Open. Berdych had also won two of their last three heading into Friday’s contest.
“I was trying to play a good match and not thinking so much about what has happened in the past,” Federer said. “I really played well off the baseline.
“What he would have needed today is a really high first-serve percentage and a lot of aces. Because I was serving well and moving well there was not going to be many chances for him.”
Federer said it was nice to get a quick match out of the say so he has more time to get ready for Saturday’s semi-final.
“To get a match like this against a top guy gives you confidence,” he said. “I have had some pretty tough matches against him in the past.”
Federer stormed through the second set against Berdych in just 28 minutes, clinching the win when the Czech sent a backhand return long on the first match point.
“In the second set I made a few changes and it started to work better,” Federer said.
Federer had just one ace but he only lost three points (23/26) on his first serve in the 68-minute match.
Berdych made five double faults and won just 38 percent of his second-serve points.
“He was doing pretty much everything perfect,” Berdych said of Federer. “When you feel that he’s in control right from the beginning, then of course you have to come up with your best game from the beginning of the match. That’s basically it. You just want to play your best. There is a very thin line in between that and overdoing it. It’s not so easy, really, to control it every single time that you go play with a player like this.”
